Category: Capacity

  • 26. Case: Withdrawal of Life-sustaining Treatment, or Euthanasia?

    An ethics request came from nursing staff caring for a patient dying with end-stage throat cancer on acute surgical service. The patient has requested a removal of her tracheotomy and a chance to die as she chooses. She had agreed to try the trach for a while, but is finding it negatively impacts her quality…

    View Case Study: 26. Case: Withdrawal of Life-sustaining Treatment, or Euthanasia?
  • 25. Case: A Difference of Opinion?

    Mary is a 90-year old woman who has been in hospital several weeks. She has a COPD exacerbation, increasing difficulty swallowing, and pneumonia. She has said repeatedly she is tired of being in hospital and tired of fighting to breathe. She doesn’t want a feeding tube or her IV but wants to be allowed to…

    View Case Study: 25. Case: A Difference of Opinion?
  • 24. Case: Changing Care and Care-Giving

    Kevin Henderson is an 83-year old man who is hospitalized in an internal medicine clinical unit at the local hospital. Kevin has a variety of serious medical conditions including severe Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, coronary artery disease and advanced chronic obstructive lung disease. He is slowly recovering from a difficult-to-treat pneumonia, which required treatment with intravenous…

    View Case Study: 24. Case: Changing Care and Care-Giving
  • 22. Case: Double Effect?

    The following call comes in to the ethics line: “Hi. It’s Celine from Oncology. We have a patient here who is in the end stages of lung cancer and is in a lot of pain. The patient and his family are strongly Catholic. The patient’s pain doesn’t seem to be well-controlled. But the family won’t…

    View Case Study: 22. Case: Double Effect?
  • 21. Case: Balancing Concerns

    “Where’s the door to my bathroom? Can’t a man get some privacy?” “Uh oh, that’s Elias again. We’d better make sure he’s alright.” “How many times are we going to have to go through this with him? Maybe we should just put the bathroom door on again.” “The only problem is that on his ‘bad’…

    View Case Study: 21. Case: Balancing Concerns
  • 19. Case: Craig’s Right to Choose?

    Craig Renaldo is a 14-year old boy who was recently diagnosed with a right lower leg malignant vascular tumour. Staging investigations have been negative for distant metastases. Craig’s attending medical oncologist, Dr. Purvis, consults a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mendes, who recommends a below-knee amputation. Dr. Purvis concurs with this recommendation given the aggressive nature…

    View Case Study: 19. Case: Craig’s Right to Choose?
  • 18. Case: When the “Truth” is Painful

    Mrs. Sally Parrot, a 73-year old widow, has mild dementia of a presumed neurovascular type. She resides in her own small apartment in Serenity, a private continuing care community in Bedford, where she receives some assistance with housekeeping, meal preparation and organization of her medications. Sally is actively engaged in Serenity’s structured activities and, in…

    View Case Study: 18. Case: When the “Truth” is Painful
  • 16. Case: Shifting Gears

    Nedra has been fighting ovarian cancer for 3 years. When first diagnosed, Nedra had surgery followed by intensive chemotherapy. Although it initially looked like she might be moving into remission, things started to change about 6 months ago. Nedra started experiencing some bone pain and it was discovered that her cancer had metastasized. Although radiation…

    View Case Study: 16. Case: Shifting Gears
  • 15. Case: Acceptable Judgement?

    Sara Thornton, an unemployed 19-year old woman, lives with her 28 year old sister, Fran, and Fran’s boyfriend, Alan. Both sisters were diagnosed with bipolar I disorder in their mid-adolescence. They are both estranged from their alcoholic mother, the only living parent. Fran has learned to manage her illness reasonably well through lifestyle changes, participation…

    View Case Study: 15. Case: Acceptable Judgement?
  • 14. Case: I Want to Go Home!

    A widower (age 88) lives alone, but has family living nearby. Recently he had a stroke and regained consciousness after being admitted to hospital. He was deemed to have cognitive capacity. His adult children approached the physician in charge of his case along with the unit’s Nurse Manager and requested that the patient be placed…

    View Case Study: 14. Case: I Want to Go Home!